NEWS

GCS
Staff | 9/1/2023
Staff | 9/1/2023
Photo Credit: Mike Brinson
GLYNN UPENDED BY CAMDEN
By Kevin Price
For GCS Athletics
Glynn Academy suffered its first loss of the season Friday night as the Red Terrors fell 46-13 to Camden County at Glynn County Stadium.
A Glynn defense which had given up only one touchdown in the Terrors’ first two games combined allowed the Wildcats to score six touchdowns in this one while the GA offense went scoreless in the opening half before scoring twice over the final two quarters.
The Terrors (2-1) had beaten Statesboro 21-0 in the opening game of the season at home back on Aug. 18 before holding off McIntosh County Academy 14-6 last Friday up in Darien.
Camden was coming off a 21-17 loss a week ago to Brunswick High in Kingsland after winning its opening game 23-12 the previous week.
GA head coach Rocky Hidalgo didn’t mince words following Friday’s lop-sided loss to the Wildcats. He was extremely disappointed in the Terrors’ showing.
“This is really frustrating on my end,” he said. “This is a game we should have had a chance to win. We didn’t play very well, didn’t do anything well tonight. We just didn’t play well, and that’s my fault.”
The Terrors managed only 22 yards of offense in the first half while seeing Camden jump out to a 17-0 lead before halftime.
Camden fumbled the ball on its opening possession inside Glynn’s 25-yard line after the Terrors went three-and-out to start the game.
A 37-yard punt return by senior Ja’Marley Riddle, a starter on both offense and defense for the Wildcats, gave Camden the ball at the Glynn 18 to start its second series. Camden called Riddle’s number on its first play and the East Carolina commit scored on a tackle-breaking carry for the first score of the night.
It was the first big play of the game by Riddle who scored three times for the Wildcats while rushing for 47 yards and two scores on eight attempts and catching three passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, but the score was nullified by a penalty against the Wildcats at the 8-yard line.
Riddle scored from 13 yards out late in the first quarter to put Camden up 14-0 after the extra-point kick. The touchdown came following a 34-yard pass from Parks Riendeau to junior tight end Elyiss Williams, a heralded recruit who is currently committed to the Georgia Bulldogs. He played two years at Charlton County before transferring to Camden.
The Wildcats took their 17-0 advantage on a 27-yard field goal by Bryson Osgood in the final seconds of the second quarter.
Glynn kneeled on the football to end what was a lackluster first half for the Terrors, especially offensively.
“We jumped offsides on the first series, misaligned twice,” Hidalgo said. “The first five series ended because of mental mistakes. We literally killed ourselves, didn’t have a chance. We never gave ourselves a chance because we screwed up something on each drive, dug a hole for ourselves.”
Camden extended its lead to 24-0 on the opening possession of the third quarter as Riendeau hit Riddle over the middle for a 52-yard scoring connection as soon as the Wildcats picked up a first down to move the chains.
Glynn answered on its first drive after halftime as it covered 78 yards and scored on a 4-yard run by junior tailback Greg Peacock. The Terrors kept their drive alive when Ryan Schueneman threw a pass for 42 yards to senior wideout David Prince on fourth-and-2 a play earlier to give the Terrors the first-and-goal situation inside the Camden 5.
Glynn’s extra-point kick was blocked, leaving the score 24-6.
The Terrors couldn’t keep Camden from scoring, though.
Following a failed onside kick by the Terrors, Camden took possession at the GA 49 and would score moments later on a 34-yard pass to the 6-foot-7 Williams from senior quarterback Mason Robinson, who started under center for the Wildcats in the first two games but was the second guy in for the team in this game. Williams bounced off a would-be tackler around the 20 and paraded into the end zone for his second TD of the night.
Camden converted a two-point play - a rush by two-way player DeNigel Cooper, a tight end on the offense and a rush end on defense- that blinked the score to 32-6.
The Wildcats scored again early in the fourth quarter on a 49-yard jaunt by junior halfback Jordan Hardy. They also found paydirt once more on their next series when Jaylen Johnson, another junior halfback, dashed 48 yards to make it 46-6 after the point-after.
Glynn put the last points on the board late in the final quarter on a 16-yard pass from Schueneman to Prince who was open in the end zone for the touchdown. The GA quarterback and his senior receiver have hooked up for scores in each of Glynn’s firt three games.
“We left our defense on the field too long in the first half,” Hidalgo said. “The second half, the game got away from us. But, we must have had 30 missed tackles tonight. We didn’t play very well.”
Camden finished with 233 rushing yards with four ballcarries going for more than 40 yards each.
Riendeau completed 6 of 8 passes for 157 yards.
For Glynn, Schueneman ended the night 11-for-21 passing for 124 yards. Prince finished with 100 yards receiving on six catches.
The Terrors rushed for 115 yards. Their leading rusher ended up being sophomore Da’Sean Howard who had seven carries late for 59 yards.
Peacock finished with 10 carries for 36 yards. He missed Glynn’s opener with a shoulder problem that has plagued him since spring and saw his first action last week against McIntosh after one day of practice. This week, he was nursing a gimpy ankle at the start of the week and was again limited in practice.
“He’s practiced two days in five weeks,” Hidalgo said. “He’s gotta have three days of practice (during a week) so he can get in the passing game and the running game. We’ve got to get him healthy.”
But Glynn’s troubles offensively don’t end with not having their top running back at full-strength, Hidalgo noted.
“We’re not running routes to the right spots, not helping our quarterback with things like that. We’ve got people running wide open and need to hit some of those throws. We’re missing blocks, making so many errors on the offensive line and just didn’t help ourselves,” the coach said.
Glynn is facing a short week next week as the Terrors will play on Thursday night to open the second Border Classic at GC Stadium. They are set to take on Baker County (Fla.) at 7:30 p.m. on the first of three consecutive days of football between the bricks with seven matchups between Southeast Georgia schools and North Florida teams.
The Thursday afternoon opener is Charlton against University Christian. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
GCS
Staff | 9/1/2023
Staff | 9/1/2023